The University participates in the return of 80 turtles to the sea

Jesùs Tomás, with a baby turtle on his hand, on a beach.
Jesùs Tomás, with a baby turtle on his hand, on a beach.
The Universitat de València coordinates the team of specialists which studies and protects loggerhead turtles in the Valencian Community. An initiative that this month of October, has return to the sea 80 turtles from nests that had been put last year in different Valencian beaches. Jesùs Tomás, professor from the Department of Zoology and researcher from the Marine Zoology Unit from the Cavanilles Institute, who coordinates the study of nesting of this species, inside the project Varacomval, confirms the crescent presence of the species inside the Spanish Mediterranean coast, in which the Valencian Community is known for their detection of nests and nesting events.

During the month of October, the biggest liberation of turtles has been done in Denia, with 30 specimens. In Almassora they have returned to the sea 22 turtles. In Santa Pola 17 and in Elche, 9. This Thursday two more will be returned in Gandia. The animals that are now returned to the beaches, were rescued from the nests put last year.

The Valencian coast was not their common place of breeding, but climate change makes their survival easier in our beaches. We are talking about a threatened species with low life expectancy: it is estimated that only one or two every thousand reaches adulthood. Even though a mother puts about 300 eggs per season on the beaches, not all’of them survive. Therefore it is necessary to take protection measures.

After the nine nests detected, in 2023 scholars and protégés in the Valencian Community, the Marine Zoology Unit (UZM) from the Institute of Cavanilles from the Universitat de València has detected, studied and protected 8 new nests in 2024. In addition, it was detected a new born dead in a beach from Sueca, that is being studied to see if it is part from the nest from Valencia or if we are talking about a ninth nest, and a turtle that has been followed the past years and visits almost every year the beaches of Torrevieja and Orihuela trying to nest unsuccessfully, probably for a self deficiency.

The nesting of this species has experimented in 2024 a drop regarding 2023, with only 12 nests detected to this date in the whole Mediterranean coast. What is really surprising from this season 2024 is that 8 out of 12 nests have been located in the Valencian Community.

Some of this nesting events have been communicated by citizens through callings to the 112, according with the current protocol; but some of them have been communicated directly to the UZM through environmental services and cleaning services from the town halls, who have been at their disposal to help out in the protection of this species. This collaboration has been successful thanks to the awareness campaigns. Furthermore, this year our University team has done night patrolling of the beaches, that have to find two of the nesting turtles in the actual process of laying.

The effective coordination from the Universitat de València Network from the Valencian Community has been essential to detect and supervise all nests from the Valencian coast. Once received the warning, together with the Universitat de València team, specialists and technicians from different institutions (Universitat Politècnica de València, Foundation of Oceanographic and NGO Xaloc) have gone to the nesting place to study the nesting individuals and protect, in this case, their nest. What is more, the UZM team has collaborated with the Politècnica on the positioning of three satellite transmitters on three nesting females to monitor them after nesting.

The care of the nests has been a group effort among diverse entitities, being an example of collaboration among the public and the private sector. Along with the already mentioned entities, Territorio Natura-Torrevieja, Ecologists in Acción-Elche, the Parador from El Saler, the Foundation of Biodiversity and the town halls from Dénia, Elche and Torrevieja have been fundamental in the process of looking after the nests. Other town halls, like the one from Guardamar del Segura and the one from Benidorm, have shown their support this new season.

The town hall of Dénia made the most of the moment and liberated 30 turtles, 5 October, to give recognition to the professor from the Universitat de València Jesùs Tomás.

Each nest discovered could hold between 60 and 130 eggs, from which 75% open. The protocol says that most of them must be kept at the beach. "They are left to open in the sea to respect the natural process", says Tomás. But there is a 20-25% of the eggs, that end up at the Oceanogràphic installations, where they pass the months before being returned to the sea.

The compiled data during this year will be analyzed by the specialists from the Varacomval project, in collaboration with other institutions. This project, an initiative by the Marine Zoology unit from the Universitat de València, and led by the professor Juan A. Raga, counts with the support of the Foundation of Biodiversity from the Ministry for the Ecological Transition and the Demographic Challenge) inside the Recovery, Transformation and NextGenerationEU Resilience Plan, and it is contributing efficiently to the improvement of the plans and conservational strategies for the loggerhead turtle in our coasts.